Lamar hired Whitten as offensive coordinator after Tommy Mainord left the position to be the wide receivers coach at Texas Tech. Whitten served as the head coach at Sam Houston State for five seasons before coming to Lamar.

Another offensive coordinator change could mean another offensive system for players to learn.

Whitten coached an offense that ran many plays out of three- and four-receivers sets with one running back. Before him, Mainord coached a no-back offense similar to the type run by Tech under former head coach Mike Leach.